Chapter 642: A Long Talk with Heaven

Going along with the Heavenly Dao was very important.

Back then, Daoist Fuyang helped the founding emperor of Great Yan to change the dynasty, and through mutual assistance, to change heaven and earth, replacing the reigning Celestial Emperor. This was also in accordance with the great trend of the world, in harmony with the Heavenly Dao.

Following the current made everything smooth.

Going against the current was like rowing upstream.

As mentioned before, the so-called Heavenly Dao was not some entity independent of the gods in the world. There was no need to oppose or resist it. Apart from destroying the world itself, it could not be overthrown, because Song You himself was part of it. A better approach was to coexist with it, follow it, align with the world and the human heart, and harness its power.

While following the Heavenly Dao did not necessarily guarantee benefits, at least it prevented unnecessary obstacles.

Especially since Song You was the heir of the Hidden Dragon Temple.

Hidden Dragon Temple was favored by the Heavenly Dao, which was why it had survived since ancient times. Because of this favor, even in this declining era of cultivation and magic, Hidden Dragon Temple still managed to produce great masters generation after generation.

Song You should inform it. At least let it know what he intended to do, and what changes he would bring to the world.

Song You followed the will of the people.

Since ancient times, as long as earthly emperors failed to win the people’s hearts, no matter how strong their rule, they were doomed to perish.

The same applied to gods and great powers. The greatest force in the world was the people’s will.

No one could act against the wishes of all living beings under heaven.

This world had its own order, especially the long-standing divine system. Whether to change or overthrow it was not easy.

At present, the great trend of the world had not yet emerged; it was not yet the natural time to change heaven and earth. The Great Emperor Chijin held high office, commanded myriad gods, and had managed Heavenly Palace affairs for a long time. He could not be casually destroyed; either a chaotic era must arrive, where earthly dynasties change and the natural order reset, or enough evidence of his corruption must be gathered to prove that this Celestial Emperor was indeed rotten and deserved elimination.

Song You was too lazy to collect and organize such evidence. He would start from the path to ascend heaven.

Preventing unqualified souls from ascending to godhood was a rightful act, restoring the incense-based Divine Dao and the original state of the gods of Heavenly Palace. Neither the Heavenly Dao nor the virtuous gods of the Heavenly Palace would object to this, nor have reasons to oppose it.

Those gods without virtue, unworthy of their divine status, who held positions in the Heavenly Palace for years and had no great merit—or worse, committed evil—should be justly eliminated, removed, or called down.

The Great Emperor Chijin, however, found this intolerable.

This was cutting off his wings and feathers, attacking his foundation. If he remained unmoved, he would eventually have no strength to resist; if he reacted too strongly from the start, he would lose legitimacy.

At its root, it’s because he himself had become corrupt, fundamentally wrong, and no matter what, he could not redeem himself according to the principles of the law.

This was an open conspiracy.

The only thing Song You needed to worry about—and what the true dragon and Divine Lord Yuewang feared—was that other ancient gods of the Heavenly Palace might also feel dissatisfied, offended, or provoked. Or that their attention may go beyond what Song You was doing and about to do, seeing what he would do in the future, and the consequences that would follow, making them alert and feeling their interests were threatened.

Originally, although the Great Emperor Chijin was the ruler of the Heavenly Palace and these ancient gods were nominally his subordinates, he indeed had control over the incense offerings of the human world—incense being the foundation of the gods. To some extent, he controlled the distribution of benefits among the gods, and these gods usually respected him. Fundamentally, they respected “the Celestial Emperor who deeply won the hearts of the people,” regardless of who that emperor was. But it was not easy for the Great Emperor Chijin to command them arbitrarily; at least, if he tried to order them to oppose the pinnacle human sect, Hidden Dragon Temple, without just cause, many ancient gods probably would not comply.

But now things were uncertain.

Many ancient gods were remarkable beings—they were great powers in ancient times, some with reputations and attainments comparable to the founder of Hidden Dragon Temple. Later, to pursue immortality, they turned to the incense-based Divine Dao. Whether this was a way out or a form of decline was unclear, nor was it clear if they had progressed or faded over time. In any case, they must never be underestimated.

Song You recalled that in the late ancient times, before Hidden Dragon Temple was even built, and afterward, some old friends of the founders also followed the incense-offering path and lived as leisure gods in heaven.

The effort of one person alone was truly difficult.

Song You closed his eyes as if sitting in meditation, quietly contemplating until he felt someone draping a paper cloak over him, as well as a small hand touching his shoulder. When he opened his eyes, the crane had already landed on a mountainside, with faint shadows of village huts visible among the distant bamboo forest.

Lady Calico had wrapped the paper cloak around him and tightly tied the belt. Her serious little face looked very caring. Seeing him open his eyes, she said, “It’s very cold up there in the sky. Wear something thicker and warm. Make sure you’re cozy and comfortable.”

“Thank you, Lady Calico.”

“You’re welcome.”

“Have we arrived?”

“Not yet,” Lady Calico said. “The crane isn’t very smart; it can’t tell directions well. While flying, it wants to land and asks where we are.”

“...” Song You closed his eyes again.

For the next half day of travel, it was almost the same.

Lady Calico was not what she used to be; she knew which direction Pingzhou was in. But the prefecture was so large, how easy was it to find a particular mountain? Moreover, what one sees from the sky differs from what is on the ground; the same city looks different from above and below. Without official roads or signs, flying fast makes it easy to stray off course.

So Lady Calico often stopped, avoiding cities, populated areas, and open views. She would land far from villages, transform into a cat to run and ask for directions, or send the swallow to inquire. After clarifying the route, she would return and continue riding the crane toward Yunding Mountain in Changsheng County.

Despite this, many people on the ground saw the giant crane flying overhead. The crane was truly enormous.

Even when the Heavenly Palace summoned new gods on Mount Zunzhe, the crane they used was no larger than a small sparrow compared to this one. Even flying among the clouds, its silhouette appeared and disappeared. When it flew a little lower, it cast a huge shadow on the ground. Although they tried to avoid villages and towns, it was often seen by people.

Pingzhou already had many legends of gods, immortals, demons, and ghosts, and such stories were deeply rooted in the local culture. The common folk loved to talk about these things, so this sight would surely add more tales to the lore.

The next early morning, Yunding Mountain was shrouded in mist.

Mirror Island Lake lay calm and still, reflecting the tiny, fish-scale-like cumulus clouds in the sky, as well as a gigantic celestial crane flying above the scaled clouds.

Only a few people boating on the lake or traveling by boat across Mirror Island Lake toward the foot of Yunding Mountain, occasionally lowering their heads to admire the lake or looking up to watch the clouds, were able to see it—and couldn’t help but exclaim in awe.

Yunding Mountain was thick with mist; the iron chains swayed in the wind, producing crisp sounds. The mountain peak itself was free of fog and people—perhaps someone had come there the previous night but had descended early morning, or maybe no fearless climbers had reached the summit yet, so no one had the chance to witness the crane’s majesty.

The crane rode the wind directly to the peak of Yunding Mountain.

The mountaintop was clear and bright, free of mist or noxious vapors, with no grass growing. There were only countless wind-eroded cliff carvings recording the ancient immortals who once dwelled there.

Song You vividly remembered when he first arrived here: the perfect timing, the favorable terrain, and harmonious people—all so exquisitely fitting. In those profound moments, he connected with heaven and earth, resonated with the mountains and waters, and conversed with the ancient spiritual resonance. One night felt like a whole year.

For him, this place was undoubtedly the closest to heaven.

Now, to have a long conversation with heaven, this was the natural choice.

***

Below the mountain, more people were climbing.

A legend of encountering an immortal, a talented scholar, and an essay titled Encountering an Immortal on Yunding had added an extra layer of celestial aura to the already famed Yunding Mountain. Countless people came seeking it.

People continuously ascended along the path, holding sincere hopes of finding immortals and asking about the Dao. Over more than ten years, the path had grown much wider from frequent use. The pear tree mentioned in Cui Nanxi’s Encountering an Immortal on Yunding still stood there, and locals had even built a pavilion nearby for climbers to rest. Passersby often stopped, gazing at it and sometimes touching the branches, polishing them smooth and shiny.

It was the season when pears were ripe, the tree heavy with fruit. The new magistrate of Shizu County had also come here drawn by the legend.

Years ago, when Cui Nanxi climbed this mountain and encountered an immortal, he was the magistrate of Shizu County, which gave the current magistrate a strange sense of connection.

Climbing upward through the changing seasons,

The mountain grew steeper and harder to climb. Sometimes he met people coming down, waving to warn him that the paths had been washed away by late summer rains; sometimes people came running back in panic, reporting encounters with wolves, tigers, and leopards. Further up, some even claimed to have seen mountain demons; though they did not harm anyone, they were frightening enough.

The magistrate’s heart beat anxiously. Hesitant many times, he almost gave up several times, but in the end, he persisted.

His reasons for persisting were twofold. First, he had read Cui Nanxi’s article, knowing that Cui had faced many difficulties and had wanted to give up multiple times, but ultimately persevered and met a true immortal atop Yunding Mountain. The passage about overcoming hardships and finally feeling the freedom and triumph beyond the mountain deeply moved him.

Second, since both he and Cui Nanxi had been magistrates of Shizu County, if Cui could do it but he couldn’t, it would make him look inferior and bring him shame. So he continued climbing.

Along the way, they really did encounter mountain demons and spirits, but these creatures didn’t harm anyone, it was just a false alarm.

The magistrate knew that these were spirits enlightened by that true immortal. That was why they didn’t hurt people.

After all, this path was no longer as dangerous as before.

In Cui Nanxi’s original article, the mountain was said to have real monsters that would genuinely harm and eat people. Back then, the road was far less busy and almost deserted, making travelers more vulnerable to attacks from mountain monsters and wild beasts like wolves, tigers, and leopards, which tested one’s willpower even more. Now that more people traveled the road, neither the mountain monsters nor the wild beasts dared to come out and harm anyone lightly.

Because of this, it was mostly impossible to find immortals now.

When the magistrate reached the cliff with an iron chain, he saw someone walking back, looking excited. Upon seeing the magistrate, the person said, “Why aren’t you moving faster? Another immortal has appeared on Yunding Mountain!”

“Really?” the magistrate asked.

“Didn’t you see a celestial crane flying by in the sky before you started climbing yesterday?”

“I didn’t notice.”

“In any case, another immortal has come and is now sitting cross-legged on the summit of Yunding Mountain. Sometimes you can see them through the mist,” the man said, then hesitated. “But after the immortal arrived today, the mist on the mountain became strangely thick. No one can climb past the iron chains anymore and can only watch from afar.”

“Is that so!” The magistrate was thrilled and, despite his aching legs, hurried forward.

When he reached the cliff with the iron chain, he indeed saw thick fog swirling in the canyon ahead. The mist shifted with the wind and varied in density. When it thinned, one could vaguely see the other side of the mountain summit.

No grass grew there, but a stone platform stood, with a person sitting cross-legged before it, perfectly still. It looked as if this person was drinking with heaven or having a long conversation with someone.

This person looked like a Daoist priest.